Local News

Photos of Margy Lou Licastro were on display at the May 26, 2012 dedication of a neighborhood garden to her.

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BY RUTH BROWN Californian staff writer rbrown@bakersfield.com

The man who stabbed an 84-year-old woman to death in her east Bakersfield bedroom two years ago was found guilty Friday of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of burglary.

David Eugene Webster II stabbed Margy Licastro on Jan. 16, 2012, multiple times with her kitchen knife. The incident happened during an early morning burglary at Licastro's home in the 1900 block of Baker Street.

It was Licastro's husband, Joseph Licastro, who reported the home intrusion at 5 a.m.

Webster, 33, could face up to life in prison without the possibility of parole when sentenced May 13, according to a news release from the Kern County District Attorney's Office.

This is Webster's second trial in the murder case, as the first was declared a mistrial after there was a hung jury in June.

According to police reports, Webster gained access to Licastro's home when he found a key in the backyard and entered the house, setting off an alarm. Webster then tore the alarm from the wall, stabbed Licastro and fled.

Webster was detained shortly after the stabbing when police found him committing another burglary. He had a blue, cotton, right-hand glove that matched the left-hand glove found in Licastro's backyard, according to previous reports.

He also admitted to being part of a criminal street gang and having a pipe used for smoking methamphetamine in his possession.

In June, Webster was also found guilty of two burglaries in east Bakersfield, near Licastro's home.

The body of a large paddle-tailed rodent was found early Tuesday in the traffic lanes of southbound Mohawk Street north of Truxtun Avenue, suggesting Bakersfield's fabled bike path beaver -- scourge of local saplings -- may have died.

The lush grasses and sweeps of wildflowers cloak much of the damage to the small canyon in a blanket of ephemeral green. But Ellen Cypher and Erin Tennant can see it as they walk along a sandy route that has been churned into the bottom of the wash by motorcyclists and quad riders.

Even Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez's self-serving, disingenuous and downright contemptuous ranting against a proposed ban of Piccolo Pete and ground flower-type fireworks wasn't nearly as stunning to me as Supervisor David Couch's silence and eventual vote against the ban.